Tigers’ Disappointing Season Continues

Claremont are still searching for their first win after Peel Thunder proved too good for the Tigers at Bendigo Bank Stadium.

The 27-point defeat sees the Tigers remain at the bottom of the table after the Thunder ran out winners, 16.12 (108) to 11.15 (81).

Despite being in the game at half-time, a return of 4.14 in the second half cost the Tigers any chance of victory as the Thunder won their fourth consecutive game.

Darcy Cameron showed why he’s such a promising talent after kicking three goals as a deep forward, while Jack Bradshaw made it 10 goals in three games after slotting two majors.

Corey Yeo made a timely return from injury as he battled hard in the midfield, while Ryan Neates, Oliver Tate and Matthew Davies were all solid contributors.

However, the Tigers were well beaten in the hit outs and outworked in and around the contest by the likes of Brendon Jones, Jacob Ballard, Hayden Crozier and Connor Blakely.

With captain Jake Murphy, John Williams and Hugo Breakey still sidelined through injury, Jack Beeck and Matthew Palfrey made their League debuts after some solid form in the Reserves, while Haydn Busher was recalled to the side.

Max Bentley, Shane McAdam and Toby Plant (concussion) all made way from the team who lost to Perth in round five.

With the Tigers kicking to the southern end of the ground in the opening term, Ian Richardson gave the visitors an ideal start after he set sail from 55m to kick the first goal of the game in the opening minute.

A goal to Craig Moller three minutes later had the Thunder on level terms, before Cameron and Bradshaw both made the most of being awarded free kicks to give the Tigers three of the opening four goals and a 12-point lead at the 11-minute mark.

However, the Thunder hit straight back through goals to Jack Hannath and two majors to Gerald Ugle to take a 10-point lead at the 27-minute mark.

A second goal to Cameron at the 30-minute mark saw the Tigers head into quarter-time trailing by four points, with Thunder and Fremantle defender Alex Silvagni suffering a hamstring injury in the latter stages of the first term.

Coach Michael Broadbridge implored his troops to improve in the one-on-one contests and play brave football, while the lopsided I50m count which saw the hosts lead 18-8 also needed improving.

It would be the Thunder who got the fast start to the second term as Hannath kicked his second major to open up a 10-point lead, however, the Tigers hit back through a goal to Anton Hamp after the forward marked a long kick by Tom Ledger.

Max Duffy then kicked the first of his three goals to see the hosts out to an 11-point lead at the nine-minute mark, before Mitch Andrews got forward to kick truly after marking a Cameron effort which fell short of goal.

Neates was then the beneficiary of a 50m penalty as he kicked truly to pull the Tigers to within one point of the hosts, with the visitors still yet to register a behind for the match.

However, in what would be the defining stages of the match, the Thunder piled on three consecutive goals through Leroy Jetta, Ugle (third) and Tom Sheridan (after the siren) to take a 20-point lead and the momentum into the long break.

With the Tigers playing one of their best quarters of football in 2015, a return of 0.9 was reflective of the side missing several chances in front of the big sticks as the Thunder kicked the only three goals of the third quarter to take a 31-point lead into the last change.

A second goal to Bradshaw in the opening minute of the final term gave the side hope as it reduced the hosts’ lead to 25 points, however goals to Jetta (second) and Ed Langdon snuffed out any chance of a fairy-tale comeback as the Thunder took a 37-point lead at the four-minute mark.

Duffy then pushed the lead out to 46 points after kicking his second and third goals as a blowout looked on the cards, before three consecutive goals through Kiefer Yu, Cameron (third) and Busher saw the Tigers add some respectability to the final scoreboard.

The Tigers will look to grab their first win when they welcome West Perth to the Show Grounds in round seven.

CLAREMONT 4.0 7.1 7.10 11.15 (81)

PEEL THUNDER 4.4 9.9 12.11 16.12 (108)

GOALS

CLAREMONT: 3 D. CAMERON, 2 J. BRADSHAW, 1 I. RICHARDSON, R. NEATES, K. YU, M. ANDREWS, H. BUSHER, A. HAMP

PEEL THUNDER: 3 M. DUFFY, G. UGLE, 2 L. JETTA, J. HANNATH, 1 E. LANGDON, J. DELUCA, T. SHERIDAN, H. CROZIER, C. MOLLER, J. BALLARD

BEST

CLAREMONT: O. TATE, D. CAMERON, M. DAVIES, J. BRADSHAW, R. NEATES, C. YEO

PEEL THUNDER: B. JONES, C. BLAKELY, J. BALLARD, H. CROZIER, G. UGLE, M. DUFFY